RIYADH, 15 November — Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, two leading members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, have drawn up a peace plan that envisages stationing Muslim soldiers as part of an international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan. And the United Arab Emirates is expected to host a proposed UN-sponsored conference of Afghan factions to hammer out a political solution following the fall of Kabul to the opposition.
A UAE official confirmed a report on Abu Dhabi satellite television that the UAE had agreed to host the conference within days. “The conference, expected to be held in the next few days, will discuss Afghanistan’s political future and the formation of a broad-based government,” the news report said.
An Afghan conference is part of a five-point UN plan unveiled at an emergency session of the UN Security Council on Tuesday after the opposition Northern Alliance captured Kabul from the Taleban militia.
It envisages bringing together the Northern Alliance and representatives of former Afghan King Mohammed Zahir Shah and those of factions backed by Iran and Pakistan.
A Riyadh-based diplomat had earlier suggested that Qatar, which currently chairs the OIC, had been tipped to host the meeting.
Regarding the joint Riyadh-Islamabad initiative to put Muslim troops on the ground in Afghanistan, a Saudi official speaking on condition of anonymity said the plan calls for the deployment of a UN force in the war-torn country, particularly in the areas captured by the anti-Taleban opposition.
Unlike the United States, Britain and France, which believe such a force should comprise mainly allied troops, Riyadh and Islamabad want it to be drawn from a large number of countries, including Islamic states, the official said.
The plan also calls for a conference of all Afghan factions to be held under UN auspices and with the participation of other countries “concerned” or neighbors of Afghanistan that would agree on the shape of a transitional period.
Thirdly, Riyadh and Islamabad are proposing the formation of a transitional government of national unity that would provide for a “balanced representation” of Afghan ethnic groups in line with their demographic and political weight, according to the official.
